Strange Magic

I don't even remember where the idea to tackle Strange Magic came from, but I went from being down to contribute only background vocals to also providing a few keyboard parts. When we're on a roll this good, who am I to get in the way of all that momentum? Please join me in giving this fantastic little band with sky high ambitions a round of applause! As for End Of The Road, this isn't close to be the last you'll hear from us. In fact, it's our way of testing the water before we dive even further into the world of toytown psychedelia, though you can expect at least one other album from us first. (More about that next time, I hope...)

- Naomi Hikaru

Strange Magic is a very beautiful ELO ballad and one I had a great time in the production process of. The arrangement was knocked out in about a day but it was very fun to imagine it with horns and woodwinds as opposed to just strings. This was probably the hardest thing that I've mixed yet! - The Ivory Heart

This one got me bringing out my inner Bev Bevan to perform it—my tambourine and bass backing vocals came from the stripped down version ELO used to do live where he'd abandon the kit to come to the front to the stage. I always really liked that version, and wanted to evoke it in some sense. Watching it come together was fun, because it seemed just like building a tower. Every new little part made it that much more magical. The vibraphone's my favorite, try listening for it! Perhaps Face the Music is among ELO's least popular "popular" albums, with enduring hits and the like, so I'm glad The Ivory Heart brought it to our attention to cover something off of it. -TOEM

The Ivory Heart - Keyboards, Arrangement, Lead vocals, Bass guitar, Production, Mixing
CrownedVR - Electric guitars
Naomi Hikaru - Backing vocals, Keyboards, uwu
PsychicRadroach - Backing vocals
The Elusive Lizard - Drums
Julian Avilés - Backing vocals
Slimepig - Backing vocals, Clarinet, Flute
The Only Epic Man - Acoustic guitar, Tambourine, Vibraphone, Backing vocals

End of the Road

"End of the Road" is yet another brilliant slice of toytown psych from Jeff's pre-ELO project, the Idle Race. Big fan. I always thought they had some indirect effect on the lo-fi indie pop rock scene of the 90s and 2000s, and they'd be a really fitting addition to that era. Also, we couldn't clear the licensing for whatever TV commercial/radio thing they used at the end, so we got our own weird sound, courtesy of The Ivory Heart. -TOEM
Naomi Hikaru - Keyboards, Backing vocals, Sampling, Whistling, Production, Mixing
The Elusive Lizard - Lead vocals, Acoustic guitar
The Ivory Heart - Mellotron, Backing vocals, Bass guitar
The Only Epic Man - Drums, Tubular bells


Gully 'Latnorth' Kjanka - Album Art

Mastered by Naomi Hikaru

All Music and Words by Jeff Lynne, Copyright EMI April Music Inc. (1) & EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (2)

Originally performed by Electric Light Orchestra (1) and The Idle Race (2)

DXC-1005